Oxted is a town and

civil parish In England, a civil parish is a type of administrative parish used for local government. It is a territorial designation which is the lowest tier of local government. Civil parishes can trace their origin to the ancient system of parishes, w ...

in the Tandridge district of

Surrey Surrey () is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Greater London to the northeast, Kent to the east, East Sussex, East and West Sussex to the south, and Hampshire and Berkshire to the wes ...

, England. It is at the foot of the

North Downs The North Downs are a ridge of chalk hills in south east England that stretch from Farnham in Surrey to the White Cliffs of Dover in Kent. Much of the North Downs comprises two Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Areas of Outstanding Natural Be ...

, south-east of

Croydon Croydon is a large town in South London, England, south of Charing Cross. Part of the London Borough of Croydon, a Districts of England, local government district of Greater London; it is one of the largest commercial districts in Greater Lond ...

, west of

Sevenoaks Sevenoaks is a town in Kent with a population of 29,506, situated south-east of London, England. Also classified as a civil parishes in England, civil parish, Sevenoaks is served by a commuter South Eastern Main Line, main line railway into Lo ...

, and north of

East Grinstead East Grinstead () is a town in West Sussex, England, near the East Sussex, Surrey, and Kent borders, south of London, northeast of Brighton, and northeast of the county town of Chichester. Situated in the northeast corner of the county, bord ...

. Oxted is a

commuter town A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

and

Oxted railway station Oxted railway station is on the Oxted line in southern England, serving the commuter town of Oxted, Surrey. It is from . The station is managed by Southern (Govia Thameslink Railway), Southern who operate the majority of train services with ...

has direct train services to London. Its main developed area is contiguous with the village of

Limpsfield Limpsfield is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs close to Oxted railway station and the A25 road, A25.River Eden unite in the town, east of Titsey Place. The Eden feeds into

Kent Kent is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South East England. It is bordered by Essex across the Thames Estuary to the north, the Strait of Dover to the south-east, East Sussex to the south-west, Surrey to the west, and Gr ...

's longest river, the

Medway Medway is a Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area with Borough status in the United Kingdom, borough status in the ceremonial county of Kent in South East England. It was formed in 1998 by merging the boroughs of City of Roche ...

. Only the southern slope of the North Downs is steep and its towns and farmland form the Vale of Holmesdale, a series of headwaters across Surrey and Kent to separate rivers. The settlements of Hurst Green and Holland within the civil parish to the south are continuous, and almost wholly residential, areas.

Toponymy

The first written mention of Oxted is from an

Anglo-Saxon The Anglo-Saxons, in some contexts simply called Saxons or the English, were a Cultural identity, cultural group who spoke Old English and inhabited much of what is now England and south-eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. They traced t ...

charter of 862 AD, in which it appears as ''Acustyde''. In the

Domesday Book Domesday Book ( ; the Middle English spelling of "Doomsday Book") is a manuscript record of the Great Survey of much of England and parts of Wales completed in 1086 at the behest of William the Conqueror. The manuscript was originally known by ...

of 1086, the settlement is recorded as ''Acstede''. In later documents, it appears as ''Akested'' (12th century), ''Axsted'', ''Axstude'' and ''Ocsted'' (13th century) and ''Oxsted'' (14th century). The name derives from the

Old English Old English ( or , or ), or Anglo-Saxon, is the earliest recorded form of the English language, spoken in England and southern and eastern Scotland in the Early Middle Ages. It developed from the languages brought to Great Britain by Anglo-S ...

''āc'' meaning "oak" and ''stede'' meaning "place". Oxted is generally agreed to mean "place of oak trees". Hurst Green is first recorded in the mid-15th century as ''le Herst'' in a deed of

Edward IV Edward IV (28 April 1442 – 9 April 1483) was King of England from 4 March 1461 to 3 October 1470, then again from 11 April 1471 until his death in 1483. He was a central figure in the Wars of the Roses, a series of civil wars in England ...

and as ''Herste grene'' in 1577. The name is thought to mean "open space by the wood (hurst)". "Holland" appears in 1757 as ''Hollands'' and is thought to mean "land by the hill".

Geography

Location and topography

Oxted is in east Surrey, around south of central London. It is on the Greenwich Meridian, which passes through

Oxted School Oxted School is a coeducational secondary school and sixth form located in the England, English town of Oxted, Surrey. It was opened in 1929 as the first mixed grammar school in Surrey and now has over 1,900 pupils aged 11–18 (Years 7-13). H ...

, Station Road East and East Hill (the A25). The town straddles the London to East Grinstead railway line, which runs roughly north–south through the Parish. The

extends from the

in the north to the settlement of Holland in the south. It includes Old Oxted and Hurst Green, which are to the west and south of the town respectively. Although the urban area of

Limpsfield Limpsfield is a village and civil parish in Surrey, England, at the foot of the North Downs close to Oxted railway station and the A25 road, A25.drained by the headwaters of the River Eden, a tributary of the

River Medway The River Medway is a river in South East England. It rises in the High Weald AONB, High Weald, West Sussex and flows through Tonbridge, Maidstone and the Medway conurbation in Kent, before emptying into the Thames Estuary near Sheerness, a to ...

. The highest point in the civil parish is at Botley Hill, which at above

ordnance datum An ordnance datum (OD) is a vertical datum used by an ordnance survey as the basis for deriving altitudes on maps. A spot height may be expressed as above ordnance datum (AOD). Usually mean sea level (MSL) at a particular place is used for the d ...

is the highest point on the North Downs.

Geology

The oldest outcrops in the area are of Weald Clay, which comes to the surface in the south of the civil parish. A

borehole A borehole is a narrow shaft bored in the ground, either vertically or horizontally. A borehole may be constructed for many different purposes, including the extraction of water ( drilled water well and tube well), other liquids (such as petr ...

, dug in 1958, indicated that the clay beneath Hurst Green and Holland is deep. Gravels deposited by earlier courses of the River Eden and its tributaries, are found above the clay in the same area. A thin band of Atherfield Clay comes to the surface between Hurst Green and Oxted, north of which are the Sandgate Beds, which overlie the Hythe Beds. The town centre is primarily on the Folkestone Beds, which take the form of a ferruginous

quartz Quartz is a hard, crystalline mineral composed of silica (silicon dioxide). The Atom, atoms are linked in a continuous framework of SiO4 silicon–oxygen Tetrahedral molecular geometry, tetrahedra, with each oxygen being shared between two tet ...

-rich sandstone, containing seams of

ironstone Ironstone is a sedimentary rock, either deposited directly as a ferruginous sediment or created by chemical replacement, that contains a substantial proportion of an iron ore compound from which iron (Fe) can be smelted commercially. Not to be c ...

and

mica Micas ( ) are a group of silicate minerals whose outstanding physical characteristic is that individual mica crystals can easily be split into fragile elastic plates. This characteristic is described as ''perfect basal cleavage''. Mica is co ...

. To the west of Oxted railway station, there is a thin wash of pebbles, thought to have been deposited by river action during the

Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

. To the north of the town, the

Chalk Chalk is a soft, white, porous, sedimentary carbonate rock. It is a form of limestone composed of the mineral calcite and originally formed deep under the sea by the compression of microscopic plankton that had settled to the sea floor. Ch ...

of the North Downs has historically been divided into three bands: Lower Chalk, Middle Chalk and Upper Chalk. At Oxted, the middle chalk is around thick.

History

Early history

The earliest evidence of human activity in the civil parish is from the

Iron Age The Iron Age () is the final epoch of the three historical Metal Ages, after the Chalcolithic and Bronze Age. It has also been considered as the final age of the three-age division starting with prehistory (before recorded history) and progre ...

and finds include a metal brooch dating from the 3rd or 4th centuries BCE. During the

Roman period The Roman Empire ruled the Mediterranean and much of Europe, Western Asia and North Africa. The Roman people, Romans conquered most of this during the Roman Republic, Republic, and it was ruled by emperors following Octavian's assumption of ...

, the roads from London to Lewes and London to Brighton ran either side of Oxted. The name Oxted suggests that the modern settlement was founded in the Anglo-Saxon period and it is possible that St Mary's Church is built on a pre-Christian religious site. From late Saxon times, the area was administered as part of the Tandridge Hundred.

Governance

Oxted appears in the Domesday Book as ''Acsted'' and was held by Eustace II, Count of Boulogne. Its Domesday assets were: 5 hides; 1 church, 2

mill Mill may refer to: Science and technology * Factory * Mill (grinding) * Milling (machining) * Millwork * Paper mill * Steel mill, a factory for the manufacture of steel * Sugarcane mill * Textile mill * List of types of mill * Mill, the arithmetic ...

s worth 12s 6d, 20

plough A plough or ( US) plow (both pronounced ) is a farm tool for loosening or turning the soil before sowing seed or planting. Ploughs were traditionally drawn by oxen and horses but modern ploughs are drawn by tractors. A plough may have a wooden ...

s, of

meadow A meadow ( ) is an open habitat or field, vegetated by grasses, herbs, and other non- woody plants. Trees or shrubs may sparsely populate meadows, as long as they maintain an open character. Meadows can occur naturally under favourable con ...

pannage Pannage is the practice of releasing livestock- pigs in a forest, so that they can feed on fallen acorns, beechmast, chestnuts or other nuts. Historically, it was a right or privilege granted to local people on common land or in royal forests ...

worth 100 hogs. It rendered £14 and 2d from a house in

Southwark Southwark ( ) is a district of Central London situated on the south bank of the River Thames, forming the north-western part of the wider modern London Borough of Southwark. The district, which is the oldest part of South London, developed ...

to its

feudal Feudalism, also known as the feudal system, was a combination of legal, economic, military, cultural, and political customs that flourished in Middle Ages, medieval Europe from the 9th to 15th centuries. Broadly defined, it was a way of struc ...

overlords per year. The early medieval manor of Oxted was centred on Oxted Court Farm, to the south of St Mary's Church. For much of this period, up until the end of the 13th century, it was held by the de Acstede family, who were

mesne lord A mesne lord () was a lord in the feudal system who had vassals who held land from him, but who was himself the vassal of a higher lord. Owing to ''Quia Emptores'', the concept of a mesne lordship technically still exists today: the partitionin ...

s to the Crown. As the Middle Ages progressed, Oxted was broken up into smaller estates. In around 1246, Broadham manor, thought to have been centred on the present day Broadham Green, to the west of Hurst Green, was granted to Battle Abbey. Records from 1312 and 1408 indicate that Broadham manor covered an area greater than and that the annual rent from the abbey was 51 s. Similarly, in 1283, the "Bursted" or "Birsted" estate was granted in perpetuity to Tandridge Priory, but it is unclear where in the parish this land was located. The last male member of the de Acstede family, Roland de Acstede, was summoned to

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

in 1290, but he died shortly afterwards. His estate was inherited by his five daughters, each of whom was given a share of the land. By 1300, one part of the manor was held by the sisters Clarica and Alina de Acstede, with the remainder by Hugh de Nevile. In 1342, John de Wellesworth, grandson of Roland, sold the de Acstede portion of the manor to Robert de Stangrave and his wife Joan. Following the death of Robert de Stangrave in 1344, the former de Acstede portion of the manor of Oxted passed to his wife's family, the Cobhams. and in around 1350, John de Nevile, sold the remainder to them. The Cobham family lived at Starborough Castle near

Lingfield Lingfield can refer to: * Lingfield, County Durham, England, a village * Lingfield, Surrey, England, a village ** Lingfield Park Racecourse ** Lingfield Cricket Club, prominent in the 18th century ** Lingfield railway station, serving the villag ...

and their lands in Oxted were run by a resident steward from Oxted Court Farm. In the 15th century, the manor passed to the Burgh family and, in 1587, Charles Hoskins purchased the "manor and advowson of Oxted" which covered some . By the mid-17th century, Barrow Green Court appears to have superseded Oxted Court Farm as the manor house. The Hoskins family held Oxted until the death of Susannah Hoskins in 1868, when it was inherited by her aunt, Katherine Master. She passed the manor to her descendants, the Hoskins Master family. The civil parish of Oxted was formed in 1894. Oxted was part of the Godstone Rural District from 1894 until 1974, when it was combined with the Caterham and Warlingham Urban District to create the

Tandridge District Tandridge is a local government district in east Surrey, England. Its council is based in Oxted, although the largest settlement is Caterham; other notable settlements include Warlingham, Godstone and Lingfield. In mid-2019, the district had a ...

Transport and communications

The turnpike road from Wrotham Heath to

Godstone Godstone is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Tandridge District of Surrey, England. It is east of Reigate, west of Oxted, east of Guildford and south of London. Close to the North Downs, both the North Downs Way ...

passed through the town. The modern-day A25 road divides the original town ("Old Oxted") from "New Oxted", the development that grew up to the north-east after the railway station opened in 1884. A bypass diverting the A25 to the north of Old Oxted was built in the late 1960s. The first act of Parliament to authorise the construction of a railway through Oxted was granted in July 1865. It authorised the Surrey and Sussex Junction Railway (S&SJR) to build a line from

to Groombridge, where there was to be a junction with the East Grinstead to Tunbridge Wells line. The act was controversial as the S&SJR was sponsored by the

London, Brighton and South Coast Railway The London, Brighton and South Coast Railway (LB&SCR (known also as the Brighton line, the Brighton Railway or the Brighton)) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1846 to 1922. Its territory formed a rough triangle, with London at ...

(LBSCR), but ran into a part of Surrey and East Sussex which was considered South Eastern Railway territory. In three years, the S&SJR managed to build the Oxted Tunnel and two shorter tunnels at Riddlesdown and Limpsfield. However, construction became increasingly difficult as a result of the 1866 financial panic caused by failure of

Overend, Gurney and Company Overend, Gurney and Company was a London wholesale banking, wholesale discount bank, known as "the bankers' bank", which collapsed in 1866 owing about £11 million, equivalent to £ million in . The collapse of the institution triggered a bankin ...

and, in 1869, there was a riot at Edenbridge because Belgian navvies were being employed to build the line. A second act of Parliament was obtained in 1869 to formally transfer line to the LBSCR, who immediately asked for powers to suspend works. The company paid a penalty of £32,250 and construction ceased immediately. No work took place on the unfinished railway line until 1878, when a third act of Parliament authorised the Croydon, Oxted and East Grinstead railway, which would take over construction and be jointly owned by LBSCR and SER. Among the works that were completed by the new company was the iron

viaduct A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide ...

between Oxted station and Limpsfield tunnel. The

new line New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 ** "New" (Paul McCartney song), 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, 1995 * "New" (Daya song), 2017 * "New" (No Doubt song), 1 ...

finally opened to passenger traffic in March 1884. Oxted station, originally called Oxted and Limpsfield, was provided with two through platforms and a south-facing

bay platform In the United Kingdom and in Australia, a bay platform is a dead-end railway platform at a railway station that has through lines. It is normal for bay platforms to be shorter than their associated through platforms. They must have a buffer stop ...

. There was also a freight yard with a south-facing connection to the line. A second station in the parish, Hurst Green Halt opened with line and was replaced by Hurst Green station, to the north, by

British Rail British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Comm ...

in 1961. The line south from Hurst Green to Eridge was opened in December 1887. A century later, in 1987, Hurst Green Junction signal box closed as part of a resignalling programme for the whole line.

Electrification Electrification is the process of powering by electricity and, in many contexts, the introduction of such power by changing over from an earlier power source. In the context of history of technology and economic development, electrification refe ...

of the line through Oxted to East Grinstead completed July 1987, but the line to Uckfield remains unelectrified.

Residential development

Although there is thought to have been a religious building on the site of St Mary's Church since before the

Norman Conquest The Norman Conquest (or the Conquest) was the 11th-century invasion and occupation of England by an army made up of thousands of Normans, Norman, French people, French, Flemish people, Flemish, and Bretons, Breton troops, all led by the Du ...

, it is unclear whether there was a significant nucleated settlement close to the site. It is possible that much of the population was thinly dispersed throughout the parish until the 12th century. The settlement of Old Oxted was founded in the 13th and 14th centuries, to the south east of St Mary's Church, centred on a crossroads where the Guildford to Canterbury road met Beadle's Lane (leading to the south) and Brook Hill (leading to London via the ascent of the North Downs). The street plan does not appear to have changed significantly since medieval times, although the surface of the High Street appears to have been lowered at some stage, most likely to reduce the steepness of the gradient as it approaches the stream at its east end. The oldest buildings in the village, 2-6 Godstone Road and The Old Bell pub, date from the 15th and 16th centuries. Several of the houses are thought to have originated as open hall houses, which have since been modified. The opening of the railway line through Oxted in 1884, stimulated a rapid of phase of development in the parish. Since the line crossed the Guildford to Canterbury Road on an iron viaduct, it was not practical to build a station at this point. The site chosen for the station was to the northeast of Old Oxted and to the east of St Mary's Church. With the arrival of the railway in 1884 (after many years' delay caused by lack of funds) Oxted boomed in line with London's trade growth around its station, north-east of Old Oxted, and new buildings created "New Oxted". These new buildings were built in the Tudor style, particularly with

stucco Stucco or render is a construction material made of aggregates, a binder, and water. Stucco is applied wet and hardens to a very dense solid. It is used as a decorative coating for walls and ceilings, exterior walls, and as a sculptural and ...

frontages. All Saints’ Catholic Church was built in 1913–1928 designed by

Arts and Crafts The Arts and Crafts movement was an international trend in the Decorative arts, decorative and fine arts that developed earliest and most fully in the British Isles and subsequently spread across the British Empire and to the rest of Europe and ...

architect James L. Williams (died 1926, his other work includes Royal School of Needlework, St George's in Sudbury, London (1926–27) and The Pound House in

Totteridge Totteridge is a residential area and former village in the London Borough of Barnet, England. It is a mixture of suburban development and open land (including some farmland) situated 8 miles (13 km) north north-west of Charing Cross. It ...

(1907)). The

United Reformed Church The United Reformed Church (URC) is a Protestant Christian church in the United Kingdom. As of 2024 it had approximately 44,000 members in around 1,250 congregations with 334 stipendiary ministers. The URC is a Trinitarian church whose theolog ...

's building followed in 1935, which is listed for its coloured glass and Byzantine design by architect Frederick Lawrence. Development was supported by Charles Hoskins Master through his Barrow Green Estate selling land parcels for building on what became Chichele Road Circa 1912 and the gifting of Master Park in 1924 for recreation space. Road and place names in Oxted such as Barrow Green Road, Chichele Road (named from their ancestral link to Archbishop of Canterbury Henry Chichele ), The Hoskins ( on the site of the former Hoskins Arms Hotel ), Hoskins Road, Hoskins Walk, Master Close and Master Park provide a lasting legacy to the family involvement. In 2011 ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was found ...

'' listed Oxted as the twentieth richest town in Britain. The Daily Mail listed Oxted as one of the 20 best commuter Towns in 2024.

Oxted in the Second World War

During the Second World War, the defence of the Oxted and the surrounding area was coordinated by the 9th Surrey Battalion of the

Home Guard Home guard is a title given to various military organizations at various times, with the implication of an emergency or reserve force raised for local defense. The term "home guard" was first officially used in the American Civil War, starting ...

. In September 1939, the boys of Haberdashers Aske 's School were evacuated to the town and a public Anderson shelter was constructed on Master Park. Two

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft (early on also ''pursuit aircraft'') are military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air supremacy, air superiority of the battlespace. Domina ...

, a

Hawker Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft of the 1930s–40s which was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. for service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was overshadowed in the public consciousness by ...

and a

Messerschmitt Bf 109 The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...

crashed in the civil parish in August 1940.

National and local government

Oxted is in the parliamentary constituency of East Surrey and has been represented at Westminster since May 2019 by

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

Claire Coutinho. There is one representative on Surrey County Council, Conservative Cameron McIntosh.

Tandridge District Council

The district ''The District'' is an American crime drama and police procedural television series that aired on CBS from October 7, 2000, to May 1, 2004. The show followed the work and personal life of the chief of Washington, D.C.'s police department. P ...

has 43 council seats, representing 18 wards. One councillor is elected to each seat to look after the interests of the district. The balance of the Council in 2024 is formed by 20 councillors from the Residents Alliance (Non Political), 11 Liberal Democrats, 7 Conservative and 5 Independent Group councillors. The residents alliance continues as a minority administration with 20 councillors as 22 Councillors are needed for an overall majority. Catherine Sayer is the current leader. There are 2
ParishCouncils
within Tandridge District.

Demography and housing

The average level of accommodation in the region composed of detached houses was 28%, the average that was apartments was 22.6%. The proportion of households in the civil parish who owned their home outright compares to the regional average of 35.1%. The proportion who owned their home with a loan compares to the regional average of 32.5%. The remaining % is made up of rented dwellings (plus a negligible % of households living rent-free).

Culture and community

Royal British Legion

1918 The Oxted Branch of Comrades of The Great War was established. A well built 20 ft x 80 ft Army hut costing £377 was opened in July 1919. The hut was sited on the corner of the then recreation ground owned by Mr Charles Hoskins Master, near Court Farm and St Mary's Church.The branch was one of about 700 in 30 counties UK wide. An organisation created to inaugurate and maintain in a strong, stimulating, united and democratic comradeship all those who have served in any capacity in the Sea, Land, and Air Forces during the Great War, so that neither their efforts nor their interests shall be forgotten or neglected. May 1921 The British Legion was founded bringing together four similarly minded organisations, creating a unified national voice for ex-servicemen and their families. The Oxted Branch of the Comrades of the Great War became th
Oxted Branch
of the

Royal British Legion The Royal British Legion (RBL), formerly the British Legion, is a British charity providing financial, social and emotional support to members and veterans of the British Armed Forces, their families and dependants. Membership Service in th ...

. In 1924 th
Women's Section
was formed. Oxted Royal British Legion Clubhouse

In December 1926 the Oxted Branch ( Club ) new building overlooking Master Park was opened by Sir Charles Madden, 1st Baronet. It cost over £2,200. Designed with a ladies room, a writing room and large games room at the rear, a bar and Stewards accommodation above. The architect was Mr A Douglas Robinson A.R.I.B.A. Mr Granville presented a bookcase for the writing room. The land and building upon which the club is built was officially transferred between Charles Hoskins Master and Francis Morton Thrupp on the 22nd January 1927. The current freehold title SY787642 shows the registered owners as The Royal British Legion, Haig House, 199 Borough High Street, London SE1 1AA. In 2024 the Legion Club including the Women's Section is still going strong. The Oxted Branch of the Royal British Legion, which is a Registered Charity, in part provides social and welfare support activities for ex- military members (Veterans), their families and members of the wider Oxted community. Within the Branch, the provision of 'welfare' services to Veterans has been reinvigorated and it now has a growing ‘military’ community, with Veterans from World War Two through to those that have served in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Band and civic centre

Oxted is one of the few Surrey towns to retain a town brass band, Oxted Band, which has been a fixture within the town since 1901. The town became the administrative town of the

when it was established in 1974.

Pram race

Oxted is host to a charity pram race held annually. It was started in 1977 by Eric and Elsie Hallson, who ran it for nearly 20 years before retiring. Entrants wear fancy dress and must push a pram around the two-thirds of a mile course, stopping at each of the seven licensed premises on the way to quaff a drink as quickly as they can. The race ends in Old Oxted high street where the road is closed for the evening and a street party is held.

Events in Master Park

The park hosts annual events such as that run by the local football/cricket club. Every year there is also the Oxted Beer Festival.

Barn Theatre

The Barn Theatre was conceived as a public hall for the local parishes and was opened on 22 May 1924 by the playwright Harley Granville-Barker. The building, parts of which date from between 1362 and 1433, was originally used as a barn for a

sawmill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logging, logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ...

and was moved from Limpsfield to its current site in Blue House Lane. A rehearsal space was constructed to the rear of the theatre in 1931 and a cyclorama was installed in the building in 1968. In 2021, the auditorium has 244 seats. A project to reconfigure the entrance and foyer areas has recently been built in advance of the theatre's centenary celebrations in 2024.

Media

Television

The local TV stations are BBC London & ITV London, received from the Crystal Palace transmitter. BBC South East and ITV Meridian can also be received from the Heathfield & Tunbridge Wells TV transmitters.

Radio

Local radio stations are provided by

BBC Radio Surrey BBC Radio Surrey is the BBC's local radio station serving Surrey and north-east Hampshire. It broadcasts on FM, DAB, digital TV and via BBC Sounds from studios at the University of Surrey in Guildford. According to RAJAR, BBC Radio Surrey ...

, Heart South, Greatest Hits Radio Surrey & North-East Hampshire and Susy Radio that broadcast from its studios in Redhill.

News

Oxted's local newspapers are the Surrey Advertiser and Oxted Local which is a local community magazine.

Cinema

The early use of cinematograph as

media Media may refer to: Communication * Means of communication, tools and channels used to deliver information or data ** Advertising media, various media, content, buying and placement for advertising ** Interactive media, media that is inter ...

entertainment in Oxted took place in the Hoskins Arms Hotel Assembly Rooms to a crowded audience in late 1913. In 1920 the Hoskins Cinema, adjacent the current cinema, nicknamed the Tin Shed due to the corrigated tin roof burnt down after 6 months in use. The new Oxted "Kinema" opened in early 1921 once again located within the grounds of the Hoskins Arms Hotel. 1929 the Plaza opened in 7 Station Road West with the balcony being added in 1936. Independently owned until 2001 when the name was changed to "The Screen", in 2008 Mainline Pictures chain was taken over by Everyman Media Group.

Transport

The town is served by

and Hurst Green railway station, both on the Oxted Line. Northbound trains run via to either or . Southbound trains run to either via or to via . The town is also served by Metrobus routes 236, 410, 594 and 595 which provide connections to

Westerham Westerham is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Sevenoaks District of Kent, England. It is located 3.4 miles east of Oxted and 6 miles west of Sevenoaks, adjacent to the Kent border with both Greater London and Surrey. I ...

, Redhill,

, Edenbridge and

Education

St Mary's C of E Primary School opened as a National school in Beadles Lane in 1872. Between 1963 and 1974, it moved in stages to its current site in Silkham Road. In 2018, it merged with the adjacent Downs Way School to create a primary school with a total enrolment of 660 pupils. Hurst Green Infant School opened as a primary school in 1960. In 1993, it became an infants school with a nursery department and since then has educated children aged from two to eight. Holland Junior School opened in 1971 as a middle school. It became a junior school in 1993 and educates pupils aged from eight to eleven.

was opened in 1929 and was the first co-educational

grammar school A grammar school is one of several different types of school in the history of education in the United Kingdom and other English-speaking countries, originally a Latin school, school teaching Latin, but more recently an academically oriented Se ...

in Surrey. Originally called Oxted Secondary School, it opened with 22 pupils, but numbers had grown to 120 by 1932. Following the Second World War, it adopted the name Oxted County School and was renamed to Oxted School in September 1999. In August 1998, a fire destroyed 22 classrooms, the dining hall and the library, but the school reopened for the Autumn Term on time, with many lessons held in temporary buildings. A replacement building, named the Meridian Building, was opened in January 2000. The refurbished arts centre was opened in 2019 by musician Richard Stilgoe as part of the school's 90th anniversary celebrations. Moor House School and College, in Hurst Green, was founded in 1947 by the neurologist Cecil Worster-Drought to educate children with speech and language impairments. Initially it catered for residential students only, but in 2011 it began to admit day pupils and, a year later, a sixth-form centre was opened. The new residential student village was opened by

Sophie, Countess of Wessex Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh (born Sophie Helen Rhys-Jones; 20 January 1965) is a member of the British royal family. She is married to Prince Edward, Duke of Edinburgh, the youngest sibling of King Charles III. Sophie grew up in Brenchley, ...

in October 2016.

Places of worship

St Mary's Church

A church is mentioned in the entry for Oxted in the Domesday Book and St Mary's Church is thought to be on the same site. It is around north of Old Oxted and the circular churchyard suggests a pre-conquest origin. The oldest part of the current church is the tower, which is constructed of Bargate stone with brick battlements and which is thought to date from the 12th century. The octagonal stone

font In metal typesetting, a font is a particular size, weight and style of a ''typeface'', defined as the set of fonts that share an overall design. For instance, the typeface Bauer Bodoni (shown in the figure) includes fonts " Roman" (or "regul ...

and the

chancel In church architecture, the chancel is the space around the altar, including the Choir (architecture), choir and the sanctuary (sometimes called the presbytery), at the liturgical east end of a traditional Christian church building. It may termi ...

date from the 13th century. The

aisle An aisle is a linear space for walking with rows of non-walking spaces on both sides. Aisles with seating on both sides can be seen in airplanes, in buildings such as churches, cathedrals, synagogues, meeting halls, parliaments, courtrooms, ...

s, built partly from

clunch Clunch is a traditional building material of chalky limestone rock used mainly in eastern England and Normandy. Clunch distinguishes itself from archetypal forms of limestone by being softer in character when cut, and may resemble chalk in lowe ...

, were added in the 14th century along with the

stained glass Stained glass refers to coloured glass as a material or art and architectural works created from it. Although it is traditionally made in flat panels and used as windows, the creations of modern stained glass artists also include three-dimensio ...

panels in the east window, depicting the four Evangelists. The building was damaged by fires following lightning strikes in 1637 and in 1719, and the second incident resulted in the destruction of the

ring of bells A "ring of bells" is the name bell ringers give to a set of bells hung for English full circle ringing. The term "peal of bells" is often used, though peal also refers to a change ringing performance of more than about 5,000 changes. By r ...

. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, new windows, designed by

Edward Burne-Jones Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones, 1st Baronet, (; 28 August 183317 June 1898) was an English painter and designer associated with the Pre-Raphaelite Brotherhood's style and subject matter. Burne-Jones worked with William Morris as a founding part ...

and Marjorie Kemp, were installed in the aisles and chancel respectively.

St John's Church, Hurst Green

The foundation stone of St John's Church was laid in July 1912 and was

consecrated Sacred describes something that is dedicated or set apart for the service or worship of a deity; is considered worthy of spiritual respect or devotion; or inspires awe or reverence among believers. The property is often ascribed to objects (a ...

a year later by the Bishop of Southwark. It was dedicated to

John the Evangelist John the Evangelist ( – ) is the name traditionally given to the author of the Gospel of John. Christians have traditionally identified him with John the Apostle, John of Patmos, and John the Presbyter, although there is no consensus on how ...

and initially was a daughter church to St Mary's. A new parish was created in 1953. It was designed by John Oldrid Scott in the Gothic Revival style and was built on land owned by Uvedale Lambert, who lived at South Park, Bletchingley. Scott is commemorated in the

rose window Rose window is often used as a generic term applied to a circular window, but is especially used for those found in Gothic cathedrals and churches. The windows are divided into segments by stone mullions and tracery. The term ''rose window'' wa ...

above the altar, which was given by his family in 1914. On 1 April 1988, an

arson Arson is the act of willfully and deliberately setting fire to or charring property. Although the act of arson typically involves buildings, the term can also refer to the intentional burning of other things, such as motor vehicles, watercr ...

attack took place and the resulting fire destroyed much of the interior. During the subsequent rebuilding, the opportunity was taken to remodel the church, and both the

rood screen The rood screen (also choir screen, chancel screen, or jubé) is a common feature in late medieval church architecture. It is typically an ornate partition between the chancel and nave, of more or less open tracery constructed of wood, stone, o ...

and altar rails were repositioned to make the chancel more accessible from the

nave The nave () is the central part of a church, stretching from the (normally western) main entrance or rear wall, to the transepts, or in a church without transepts, to the chancel. When a church contains side aisles, as in a basilica-type ...

. The new font cover and two mural panels were designed by the artist John Hayward. A carved oak eagle was presented to the church by the Rev'd Hugh Ford to celebrate its rededication on 1 April 1990.

All Saints' Catholic Church

The first

Catholic Mass The Mass is the central liturgical service of the Eucharist in the Catholic Church, in which bread and wine are consecrated and become the body and blood of Christ. As defined by the Church at the Council of Trent, in the Mass "the same Christ ...

to be celebrated in Oxted since the

Reformation The Reformation, also known as the Protestant Reformation or the European Reformation, was a time of major Theology, theological movement in Western Christianity in 16th-century Europe that posed a religious and political challenge to the p ...

took place in a garden shed in April 1914. Three months later, a plot of land on Chichele Road had been purchased for a new church from the Barrow Green estate. The building was designed by James Leonard Williams in the neo Gothic style and the foundation stone was laid in August 1914. The first mass took place in the completed crypt in October of the same year, but building work ceased for much of the First World War and the shell of the church was not completed until December 1919. The church bell dates from 1768, but was recast in 1862 and purchased for All Saints' in 1922. The following year, the stained glass window of St Hedwig, designed by Margaret Agnes Rope was installed in the lady chapel. The church was finally consecrated on 6 July 1927 and the elaborately carved

reredos A reredos ( , , ) is a large altarpiece, a screen, or decoration placed behind the altar in a Church (building), church. It often includes religious images. The term ''reredos'' may also be used for similar structures, if elaborate, in secular a ...

was finished in the same year. The waggon roof, decorated to a design of Geoffrey Fuller Webb, was completed in 1928 and the

Stations of the Cross The Stations of the Cross or the Way of the Cross, also known as the Via Dolorosa, Way of Sorrows or the , are a series of fourteen images depicting Jesus in Christianity, Jesus Christ on the day of Crucifixion of Jesus, his crucifixion and acc ...

, carved in oak, were installed in 1931. During the Second World War, an incendiary bomb fell on the church, but the fire was extinguished before it could spread to the roof.

Church of the Peace of God

The first

congregational church Congregationalism (also Congregational Churches or Congregationalist Churches) is a Reformed Christian (Calvinist) tradition of Protestant Christianity in which churches practice congregational government. Each congregation independently a ...

in Oxted was opened in Station Road East in 1902. By the early 1930s, it had become unable to cope with the number of worshippers and so a new church, named the Church of the Peace of God, was built in 1934–35. It was designed by Frederick Lawrence in the Byzanitine style and was constructed in red-brown brick. The church has a cruciform plan, oriented north–south, and has a central square tower. The church underwent considerable alteration in 2000, with the addition of an entrance concourse at the front and a new hall at the rear. The sanctuary was also refurbished and the church was rededicated in March 2002.

Sport

Leisure Centre

Tandridge Leisure Centre was opened in 1990. It was run by the district council until 2000, when management was transferred to a private company, Tandridge Leisure and Culture Trust. Freedom Leisure took over the operation of the centre in May 2018. The centre offers a fitness gym, exercise studio, a 25-metre fitness pool, and a lagoon pool with a flume slide.

Association football

Oxted and District Football Club was founded in 1894 and the team have played their home games at Master Park for over a century. Holland Sports F.C. is another

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

club that is based nearby at Mill Lane, Hurst Green.

Cricket

The first recorded cricket match including a team from Oxted took place at Caterham in 1840 and the first known matches in Oxted took place in 1855 and 1857 on Broadham Green. Oxted United Cricket Club was formed and ran until 1893. Oxted and Limpsfield Cricket Club was formed November 1889 and the first matches took place following year on Marls Field, much of which later became Master Park. The pavilion on Master Park was constructed by 1906.

Field hockey

Oxted Hockey Club is a

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

club that competes in the

Men's England Hockey League The Men's England Hockey League is a field hockey league organised by England Hockey that features men's teams from England and Wales. Format Regular season There are 62 teams in the league, the top tier consists of a Premier Division of ...

and the South East Hockey League.

Parks and open spaces

Great and Little Earls Woods

Covering a total of , the Great and Little Earls Woods are an area of ancient woodland managed by the Woodland Trust. The sites are designated as ancient semi-natural woodland and the dominant tree species are oak and sweet chestnut.

Master Park

The Master Park has been used as an outdoor recreation area since before 1900, although formal permission was only granted by the Hoskins Masters family in 1920. Three years later on the 17th March 1923 11

acre The acre ( ) is a Unit of measurement, unit of land area used in the Imperial units, British imperial and the United States customary units#Area, United States customary systems. It is traditionally defined as the area of one Chain (unit), ch ...

s 3 Rods and 22 Perches of land was given to the Parish by Charles Hoskins Master. The land excluded the triangle of land where the Legion and Scout huts stood adjacent Court Farm near St Mary's Church. A trust was formed to manage the park and local sports teams began to play matches there. The pavilion dates from 1996 and replaced an earlier building constructed in 1967. In 2024 a new brick built pavilion is under construction. When completed it will feature a modern café, sports changing facilities and versatile community rooms. A red oak tree was planted at the park in 1994, to celebrate the centenary of Oxted Parish Council. The children's playground was opened in 2000.

Mill Lane Playing Fields, Hurst Green

The Mill Lane Playing Fields are owned by the District Council and leased by the Holland Sports and Social Association. The facilities include an athletics track and various sports pitches. The pavilion provides changing facilities and a licensed bar. The fields have been legally protected by the charity, Fields in Trust, since 1961 and are designated under the King George V Fields scheme.

Notable residents

* Charles Hoskins Master (1846–1935), brewer and High Sheriff of Surrey, lived at Barrow Green Court. * Douglas Pyne (1847–1888),

Irish nationalist Irish nationalism is a nationalist political movement which, in its broadest sense, asserts that the people of Ireland should govern Ireland as a sovereign state. Since the mid-19th century, Irish nationalism has largely taken the form of cult ...

politician, was born and grew up at Oxted Place. * Commander William Ibbett (1886–1975),

submarine A submarine (often shortened to sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. (It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability.) The term "submarine" is also sometimes used historically or infor ...

r, was born in Oxted. * Beatrice Harrison (1892–1965)

cellist The violoncello ( , ), commonly abbreviated as cello ( ), is a middle pitched bowed (sometimes pizzicato, plucked and occasionally col legno, hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually intonation (music), tuned i ...

, lived at "Foyle Riding", Red Lane, Oxted for much of her life. * Albert Houthuesen (1903–1979), artist, lived at Stone Hall, Oxted from 1950 to 1952. * Michael Tippett (1905–1998),

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and def ...

, lived in Oxted from 1929 until 1951. * Thomas Ernest Bennett 'Tibby' Clarke (1907–1989),

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

, lived at Oakleigh Court, Oxted. * Bert Hardy (1913–1995), photographer, lived in Oxted from 1964 until his death. * Alan Charig (1927–1997), palaeontologist, author and broadcaster,lived in Oxted from 1958 until his death. *

Mohamed Al-Fayed Mohamed Abdel Moneim Al-Fayed (; 27 January 192930 August 2023) was an Egyptian businessman whose residence and primary business interests were in the United Kingdom from the mid-1960s. His business interests included ownership of the Hôtel R ...

(1929–2023), businessman, lived at Barrow Green Court from the 1970s. * Sir

Henry Cooper Sir Henry Cooper (3 May 19341 May 2011) was a British heavyweight boxer. He was undefeated in British and Commonwealth heavyweight championship contests for twelve years and held the European heavyweight title for three years. In a 1963 fi ...

(1934–2011),

heavyweight Heavyweight is a weight class in combat sports and professional wrestling. Boxing Professional Male boxers who weigh over are considered heavyweights by 2 of the 4 major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Federation an ...

boxer, died at Bourne House, Uvedale Road. *

Keir Starmer Sir Keir Rodney Starmer (born 2 September 1962) is a British politician and lawyer who has served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom since 2024 and as Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party since 2020. He previously ...

(b. 1962),

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom The prime minister of the United Kingdom is the head of government of the United Kingdom. The prime minister Advice (constitutional law), advises the Monarchy of the United Kingdom, sovereign on the exercise of much of the Royal prerogative ...

, grew up in Hurst Green. * Nicky Forster (b. 1973), football player, grew up in Hurst Green. *

Louise Redknapp Louise Elizabeth Redknapp (née Nurding; born 4 November 1974), professionally known as Louise, is an English singer, dancer and media personality. She was a member of Eternal, an R&B girl group which debuted in 1993 with their quadruple-pla ...

(b. 1974), singer, lived in Oxted as a child. * Laura Trott (b. 1984), MP for

, grew up in the town. * Ellie Soutter (2000–2018),

snowboarder Snowboarding is a recreational and competitive activity that involves descending a snow-covered surface while standing on a snowboard that is almost always attached to a rider's feet. It features in the Winter Olympic Games and Winter Paralympic ...

, grew up in Oxted.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * {{authority control Towns in Surrey Tandridge Civil parishes in Surrey